Review by Daniel for System of a Down - System of a Down (1998)

I was very late to get on the System Of A Down train if I’m being honest. When they made their mark on the global metal scene in the first part of the 2000’s I was still very much entrenched in the electronic music scene that took me away from my metal roots for a good decade so (even though I’d seen them perform live on the main stage at a Big Day Out Festival in Sydney during the peak of their early 2000’s popularity) I didn’t really understand what they were all about until well after they’d already called it quits. It was their legendary 2001 sophomore album “Toxicity” that finally saw me standing up & paying attention & it’s proved to have the strength & endurance to make a lasting impression on me in the many years since. The submission of SOAD’s 2005 fourth album “Mezmerize” as a The Gateway clan feature release in May 2022 only saw my opinion on the band’s merits being further consolidated as it’s another high quality piece of work. At no stage have I ventured back to explore the SOAD's other works until now though & it seems like a bit of a gap in my metal knowledge to be honest so I’ll be rectifying that oversight in the coming weeks.

System Of A Down’s self-titled debut album isn’t all that different to their later releases from a stylistic point of view to tell you the truth & if you enjoy “Toxicity” then you’ll likely find a reasonable level of gratification here too as the same mix of elements was already in play. What we have here is a quirky & intentionally off-the-wall approach to alternative metal that occasionally steps right over into nu metal territory for a song or two. There’s a noticeable hardcore punk backbone to this music that is really the source of a System Of A Down’s addictive electricity while their penchant for a bit of controlled weirdness was already clearly evident, particularly during the back end of the record. Front man Serj Tankian’s general insanity is offset by a distinctive, versatile & quite piercing & powerful delivery that never comes close to repetition or boredom while the crunchy hardcore-driven power chord riffs & bursts of thrashy aggression solidify SOAD’s credentials as a dangerous & potent force to be reckoned with.

In saying all that though, I don’t find “System of a Down” to be as appealing as “Toxicity” or “Mezmerize” & it’s the quality of the song-writing that’s the differentiator here. You can see that very obviously when you hear the one-two punch of the two clear highlight tracks in “Suggestions” & “Spider” (my personal favourite & the most rocky & accessible number on the album with it’s hints at a Tool influence) as the rest of the album is clearly not at the same level of memorability or class as those two inclusions. There’s not many failures as such though with only the short & overly quirky “CUBErt” not hitting an acceptable level of appeal for me personally but I don’t think there’s any doubt that the quality trendline sits a touch lower with this album than it did with the other SOAD records I’m familiar with. It’ll be interesting to see how I feel about the remaining SOAD releases given that they’re perhaps not quite as widely celebrated as this one which I regard as an entertaining, well executed & generally fun alternative metal album that will unfortunately very likely drift off into my past without much fanfare with me reaching for other SOAD releases when I feel the need to scratch that particular itch.